Chronicles of Nuva, a Tale of Morrowind
by Earthenfist
Summary: Follow Nuva, a Bretonic Battlemage, as she goes from an imperial prisoner to one of the most powerful and dangerous people on Vvardenfell.  done in journal format.
1. 21 Last Seed

My second story. This is basically the life and times of one of my characters from Morrowind, done in journal format, but a little more detailed. If anyone knows, what is the year when you start out?

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Chapter One

1st day, Last Seed, the year , Third Era.

Urgh. I am never setting foot on a ship again. I had never been seasick before, but that storm last night. I just know that I was groaning and moaning, though all I remember is what must have been a hallucination brought on by the rotten food they feed prisoners on this ship. My cell mate is a Dark Elf, a Dunmer, named Jiub. He seemed to be a friendly type, as I found him leaning over me concernedly. He even asked my name when I got up. As though he really cared. I told him anyway. Nuva. Not the fanciest of names, but it was the only one I have. Yeah, no surname. I never knew who my parents were, which is probably why I ended up on this prison ship in the first place.

Anyway, it was shortly after that that we docked in Seyda Neen, a little grungy port on the island of Vvardenfell, Morrowind province, Empire of Tamriel, etc. etc. The guards came and got me. I hope Jiub gets set free as well. He doesn't seem like a bad sort.

As soon as I stepped off the ship I was ushered into a building beside the docks. I was glad to finally be free of the ship's cell. It smelled like Guar dung. Waiting for me in the room I entered were a guard captain and a snivelly old man. I didn't bother to catch his name. Hopefully I would never have to speak with him again, the twitchy beurocrat. When I finally started paying attention, I noticed that his voice was a reedy falsetto.

"Ah yes, we have been expecting you. But before you go, you need to answer some questions. What is your profession?" Gods, but I hate his voice.

"Battlemage," I answered. I wasn't really, but I did have some proficiency with magic, being a Breton, and I figured that the heavier the armor and weapons, the safer I would be. I could learn quickly enough. From what I heard, you couldn't take a piss in Vvardenfell without being attacked.

"Good, good. And what sign were you born under?" Signs. One would think that a civilization as advanced as the Imperials wouldn't believe in such a silly thing as astrology. Sure, I had a bit more magickal stamina than some people, but that was probably just from my race, not the stars. I told him anyways.

"the Apprentice."

"Very well. Look your papers over and remember to give them to Sellus Gravius before you go." I grabbed the scroll he set on the table and left the room. The next room I came to had a table and some shelves in it, covered with silverware and other things. All of them looked pretty valuable, so I started grabbing.

Sure, it was illegal, but these people had put me through the plains of Oblivion, and I figured it was the least they could do to provide me with some funds. I noticed a lockpick on the table, and saw a small chest on the bottom shelf of the cabinet. I picked up the lockpick and tried the lock. It wasn't that advanced, only one tumbler, and I was able to get it open. To my luck, it was filled with gold Septims! About thirty or so.

I left the building, and found myself in a small courtyard. I rifled through a barrel I saw there, and found a small magickal ring. Not too rare, or powerful, but a ring of healing, which would certainly be useful. I went in the only other door available to me, and came face to face with the captain of the guard, Sellus Gravius. I gave him my papers, and left. I was a bit disappointed. I had been expecting tighter security before being set free. I was, or had been, a convict, after all. Oh well.

There wasn't much in this trash heap of a town. A few houses, some mud huts, and only one General Store. I went into the store, hoping that I could get at least a few gold from the silverware I had pilfered. I got a better price than I had hoped. Browsing through the shopkeeper's selection, I chose an iron cuirass, helmet and boots, a pair of iron gauntlets, and splurged a little on a steel pauldron. With what I had left, I bought mysef a basic war axe, and a shield that was little more than a round sheet of iron forged into a dome shape. Thanking the shopkeep for his generosity, I paid and left. It would be a long night in the open, but at least it was dry.


	2. 22 Last Seed

22, Last Seed

I was wrong. It wasn't dry. It started to rain in the middle of the night. Luckily, though, I had decided to sleep under one of those giant mushrooms that grow everywhere. The cap was able to keep me dry, and the ground sucked up most of the runoff.

Well, I had a fitful night, but at least I was able to get a little sleep. In the morning I buckled on my armour, and set out for Balmora. Before I even got going, though, I stumbled on a little rough hewn door in the bottom of a mountain! My curiousity piqued, I decided to take a look and see what was inside. The door opened with barely a creak. Obviously someone had used it recently, and was keeping it oiled. Anyway, I crept inside. There was a dirt floor, and it ramped down to a small cavern. I saw a fire, and someone in front of it!

Readying my axe, I started down the ramp. I had considered trying to torch him with a fireball, one of the few simple spells I knew, but decided against it. So, creeping down the ramp, keeping my shield up, in case he was a marksman…

Oh, yeah. Why I'm attacking this apparently innocent guy. Well, in town, I had been told that anyone who lived out in the wilderness was probably a bandit, and that I was free to take them down if I wished. And there were lots of smugglers in caves near the shore, so, yeah.

I apparently wasn't quiet enough to avoid being spotted. No surprise there, seeing as I was wearing about ten pounds of heavy armor. He gave a yell and attacked me with a dagger. It wasn't very big, but it looked wickedly sharp. He thrust it at me, and I wasn't fast enough to get my shield in the way, so it hit me. Just barely, though, and my cuirass took most of the blow. I was so unprepared for his ferocity, I just jumped back, and quickly threw up a Shield spell, one of the others I knew. I advanced again, this time with my axe held ready. When he struck again, his blade striking purple sparks off my Shield, I swung. I actually hit him, my first time! My axe bit into his shoulder, and he let off a cry, but didn't stop attacking. These bandits were tough stuff.

We went like that, off and on, trading blows. My weapon, being bigger and heavier, was doing more damage, but he was fast with that dagger. If I hadn't been wearing my armour, I would have been skewered for sure. As it was, he still managed to get me bleeding a bit. I finally was able to strike him down, and he collapsed, a scream gurgling out of his neck.

He didn't have much other than his dagger, but he did have an old iron key, and keys unlock shiny things, or things with shinies in them. Looking around, I saw another door in the back, behind a boat of all things! It was too big to even fit through the door!

Boat related mysteries aside, I was still bleeding from that dagger that on closer inspection appeared to be made of some kind of bone or bug skeleton. What was that called? Oh, yeah, chiton. I stuck it into my pack. You never know when you might need a dagger. Like for cutting cloth to bind wounds with, which I did. The bandit's shirt wasn't too dirty, and seemed to have been washed recently, judging from the smell of sload soap coming off it.

So, after resting a bit and making sure I could cast and fight, I went through the other door. There was a stair going down to my right, and a stair going up to my left. I decided to go right. Stay to the high ground and all that, right?

Well, I found someone. A mage, if you can believe it. I am phenomenally lucky to have been born a Breton, I can tell you that. The first fireball he threw at me wasn't enough to stop me, and I jumped down the stairs, slashing at him with my axe. Coward that he was, he immediately started backing off, so I kept advancing, all the way into the cavern he was in, and right into the path of a star throwing friend of his. This was getting hairy. I prudently beat a hasty retreat back into the stairwell, and readied my own fireball to toss after that pesky marksman. Or, markswoman, to be more precise. Whatever you wanna call her, those throwing stars _hurt_.

Uh oh, here came the mage again. I tossed my fireball at him, but he seemed to shrug it off like I had his. So, I brought my axe to bear again, and this time was able to catch him before he was able to spell me, and dropped him.

Keeping my shield up, I went back out to confront little miss ranged. Almost immediately, one of the stars pinged off my shield, and another off my pauldron. I made a quick descision, and switched back to Magicka to fight her. I ignited my hands, and administered a little Fire Bite to her pretty face. Not so pretty anymore. By now, I was feeling fairly drained, Magicka wise, so I switched back to my axe to finish her off.

Huuuuhhh. I was tired. I had just fought off _three_ smugglers, a mage and a markswoman among them, and wanted nothing so much as to sleep for a while. I spotted a bedroll in the corner, and plopped down on it. I didn't know if there were more enemies in the cave, and I didn't care. I slept.

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Second chapter, Hope you like. If you do, review, if you don't, tell me what is wrong. 


	3. 23 Last seed

23 Last Seed.

I woke up well rested, and ready to face whatever else might be in this place. I finally looked around at my surroundings, and noticed that I had ended up in what seemed to be the main storage and living space of the smugglers. There were crates and pillows all over the place, and a table in the corner with a key and some nautical charts on it. I pried the lids off the crates, and was rewarded with a second pauldron to match my first. I now had a more balanced armour. There were a couple of cheap potions, and other miscellaneous stuff. I grabbed it to sell, when I found a good trader. Besides, one never knew when a candlestick or a small set of silverware might come in handy!

I found something odd in the last crate. A few small stones, oblong and smooth, that almost seemed to glow with an inner light. They felt Magickal in my hands, almost like they were empty, trying to be filled. Then I realized what they were. They were soul gems! I figured that I ought to keep them, as they were the main part of the enchantment process, and Enchanting was a bit of a hobby of mine. Or, at least it would be, if I had ever had a chance to try. But now I could! As a Battlemage, I was expected to have at the very least a rudimentary knowledge of enchanted weaponry and armour, to keep it in good condition and the like, but I had the opportunity to learn so much more! First, though, I would need to figure out how to use the little things. I pocketed them, and continued looking around. There appeared to be a second passage leading out the back of this room, barred with a locked gate. I tried the key I'd gotten from the first smuggler, and unlocked it.

It was dark in the back passage. The floor dropped suddenly, and I almost slipped down. I felt around with my foot, and found a ramp, or a ledge leading to the other side. I followed it to the other side of the room, where the floor widened out again. Then, from out of the darkness, I heard a vicious "SQEEK!" and felt a sharp pain in my calf. I was being attacked by a rat! And it was Huge! Like, the size of a small dog, or large cat. But it was still just a rat, and my axe made quick work of it. Off to the side I spotted a couple glowing mushrooms, and went to take a look. There was something under them… A skeleton! Well, lucky day, it still had something on it. A couple of Netch leather pauldrons, and, upon closer inspection, a little glowing ring that I figured must be enchanted. Yup. There on the side was a tiny inscription that read 'Thief's Ring'. I slipped it on, but didn't feel anything. So I thought at it. I went through a few of the more common activations before succeeding with, of all things, 'activate'. Instantly I felt a little faster, and more agile, and I noticed my armor didn't clank quite as much. A useful thing, this.

"Hello? Is someone there?" I looked up as I heard the call. There was someone else here! I went back out into the main chamber, and up the set of stairs I had left alone before. There was an old gate at the top, and behind it were three slaves.

"Hold on," I said, "I'll get you out of there." I tried the old iron key and found it fit. So, I unlocked the gate, and then for good measure, I unlocked each of the slave's shackles; enchanted bracers too heavy to allow escape that blocked magicka use.

"Oh, thank you so much!" seemed to be all that they could say. I said it was nothing, pocketed the bracers and left the cave. I figured that the townsfolk might like to know that there had been a den of smugglers and slave dealers right on their doorstep, and that I had taken care of them.


	4. 23 Last Seed Entry 2

23 Last Seed, entry 2

23 Last Seed, entry 2

Apparently the townsfolk couldn't care less that I had just stopped some criminals right outside their front door. I mean, nothing, no reaction; I would have expected something, even if it was negative, that they had liked those guys, but they didn't say a thing about it!

Well, at least I was able to get a little more spending gold by selling some of the spare stuff. I got myself some food and sat on the porch of the shop, watching the mudcrabs forage.

"Miss Nuva, hello!" that annoying little wood-elf, what was his name? Oh, yeah, Fargoth. Fargoth was calling out to me.

"Yes?" I asked, being as polite as possible.

"Miss Nuva, come quickly. Socucius Ergalla wishes to have a word with you," he said, "Oh, and have you seen my ring?"

"What?" I asked, bewildered by his sudden change of subject. "My ring. Those ruffians at the census Bureau took it from me," he said.

What could I do? "Is this it?" I asked, taking out the ring of healing that I had found in the Census Building.

"Oh, yes! Thank you, thank you so much! It's a family heirloom, and I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't found it. You should go talk to Arille, he's my friend and would be happy to see you! He runs the tradehouse in town."

I pushed the little mer off me with a muttered 'no problem', and went back into the census building. The bald man didn't seem too happy to see me.

"One of our tax collectors has gone missing. I was wondering, Miss Nuva, if you had seen him lately. His name is Procius Vitallus, and he went missing on his last tax run."

"Alright, I'll look into it," I told him. And I realized that I would! Strange as it seemed, this place seems to be growing on me.

Anyway, I started looking around town a little, but became distracted when a mudcrab tried to bite my leg off. They sure grow them big here on Vvardenfell. But it got me to thinking, as I froze it and shattered it with the haft of my axe; Just what was it that the mudcrabs were foraging on? They usually don't gather together like that unless it's a big meal.

I went back to the peninsula I had been watching earlier. I found…parts of him.


	5. 23 Last Seed Entry 3

23 Last Seed, Entry 3

23 Last Seed, Entry 3

I have to admit, even after what I've seen, it wasn't a pretty sight. The crabs had been on him for a day at least, and there wasn't much left to identify him as human, much less the tax collector, but he still had his ring, an ornate family heirloom, according to the census guy. And the taxes and list of taxees were still intact. I grabbed up the goods, and headed back to town.

I swung by the lighthouse on the way. Gossip was, Thavera Vedrano, the Dunmer who lived there, had been very close with Processus. I figured that she ought to know that her boyfriend was dead. She didn't take it very well, but who could blame her? She _was_ happy that I had brought her his ring, though. Even gave me a couple of potions. I guess a ring's better than nothing, but still.

While she was relating her entire history with Processus, she mentioned that there was one man who was always griping about his taxes, and that he and the tax collector had even come to blows at one point. Said his name was Foryn Gilnith, and that he had a tattoo of a bear claw on his face.

When I reported back to baldie, giving him the tax money and the scroll, he actually offered me a bounty on whoever had killed Processus. I found Gilnith in a hut in the poorer side of Seyda Neen, and confronted him about it. Turns out he was guilty. He even gave me a little speech, about how the taxes were unfair, and the tax collector a crook, and then asked me to keep quiet. And when I said no, he attacked me! Of course, he was unarmed and unarmoured, and I was in plate with an axe and magicka. It wasn't really that hard to 'quiet' him down.

I went back, got my money, and high tailed it out of there. I was getting pretty sick of Seyda Neen, and was glad to see it go.


	6. 24 Last Seed

24 Last Seed

24 Last Seed.

It's noon of the day after I left Seyda Neen, and I still haven't seen any villages or other people. I saw a sign on the road a while back saying there was a town called Pelagiad further inland, and decided to follow that. Some people at Arille's had told me to go to Balmora, a city inland on the river, so I hadn't gone along the other path, pointed towards Vivec. Those same people had suggested I pay to take the silt strider, this enormous insect that passes for transportation around here. I had wanted to keep my gold, but after hours of walking, I'm starting to think that I should have just taken the bug.

Urgh. Well, enough resting. Short journal entry today, but time to go.


End file.
